He began working for the Association of Broadcasting Staff (ABS) in 1955, as assistant to the General Secretary, Leslie Littlewood.
[1] In 1984, Hearn took the ABS into a merger with the National Association of Theatrical and Kine Employees, which formed the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance (BETA).
[2] He became joint General Secretary of BETA with John Wilson, then sole head of the union in 1987.
[1] In 1991, he led BETA into a further merger, this time with the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians, which produced the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU).
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